Please make it better for me... I just got so lost agian... Im so dang gunho about the Lapband.... and I go and Chat with ObesityHelp.com people and they just put down the Lapband. Saying that at my height and weight I need more then just a band... I said I wanted the band to lose weight slower, to be able to have kids later.... they says no matter what you do you will always have excess skin lapband or bypass, kids i can have kids on the bypass... i was told i couldnt why?? thats why i wanted the lapband to have kids and now what?? i can have them on the bypass??? they say im to BIG to just have a band... i need more... then brings me back to when i was upset before..... i WAS looking at numbers... you all are like 250..265...275... gosh im almost 340 (not including you guys) come on am i kidding myself yet again??? i want this... gosh darnit i need this something anything i dont care I need something... I feel im going to die at the age 35 if i dont do anything.... Please..... be honest with me tell me off what ever set my big butt stragiht.... thank you....

Trish

Read this story..

http://lapbandtransformation.com/MalcolmsStory.htm

I also believe he is a member here, maybe you can send him a PM and see if he can offer you some guidance. The bandworks if you want it to work plain and simple. yes it may take longer with the band then the bypass but in my opinion it is worth it due to all of therisks and complications the bypass has.

you can also go to Yahoo Groups Extraordinary Bandsters. There are plenty of people at your current weight and above who have done wonderfully with the band. Having children with the band is far more healthy and safe than with the RNY. The band can be unfilled to allow you the nutrition needed, the RNY cannot be undone and your malabsorption just continues, baby or no baby.

The people on the ObesityHelp RNY or general forum will definitely bash the band. If you are going to go there, you should definitely see what the Lapband forum says as well.

This is all about what lengths you are willing to go to. If you don't mind resecting your colon, living on supplements and still not getting all you need to maintain your health, possible staple line breaks or extensive stay in ICU with leaks or bleeding complications, then RNY may be a choice. If you want something safer, yet slower and more reliable past the 'window of opportunity' with minor, fixable complications then the band may be what you are looking for. It's all a very personal choice.

While you are on OH, you might seek out the Memorial page. See if the ratio of RNY vs Lapband impresses you at all.

You are not too "big" for the Band. And there are plenty here 300+, or at least they used to be, but now, they've lost it! I have heard of cysts on incisions in peoples' colons (a friends husband is a doctor) and other complications. My grandmother, who is now 92, had a section of her colon removed due to cancer. She was in her late 70's at the time and I went to see her in the ICU. She was there because of a leak, had to wear a colostomy bag for months until the infected area healed, and I did not think she would make it. It really seemed impossible. Just watching her made gastric bypass an absolute NO for me. It's already scary enough to risk surgery to treat my obesity. I will not allow my insides to be cut, cauterized, re-routed, stapled, hooked up here and there, whatever. No way. But I will wear a Band.

I think it's a good idea to go to Extraordinary Bandsters...they would be able to tell you the truth about the Band for very High BMI's. You are always right to allow yourself to question and rethink your decision. It's important to own it. But don't panic. Good luck and keep us posted!

Dont want to alarm you but just in case you are thinking about having rny instead of the band and want to weight up the risks they swing heavily in favour of the band. Another site i go on in the uk has lost two of its members in the last few months due to complications arising from ds and ryn but no losses from the band. When i spoke to my surgeon about success and high bmi he said he would band any bmi above 35. There are plenty of peeps on this forum with your starting weight.

When i say lost i did mean they had died.

love tracey

Trish,

Dont go to the main forum of obesityhelp.com. They are all bypass patients there and they are not going to give you any support regarding the lapband. Go to the lapband forum instead over there and keep talking to us!!! I started out at 334 and there are quite a few of us who started at higher BMI's doing really great with the band. Heck, if I can lose 150 lbs, then so can you!!!

Babs in TX

334/184/170

-150

Trish, our Hagerteresa is 5'1, banded 5/04, began @ 362,now 279. That's 83 lbs.! She lost over 60 lbs. before she got her first fill. There are others here. How about scheduling an appt. w/a qualified lapband surgeon and getting his/her professional opinion? Hang in there, girl! You didn't get this way overnight and it may take a while but please take the time to research all your options and understand what to expect.

I think you'll have a very hard time getting unbiased advice on a support form that has one type of patient or the other -- including here. You're going to have to REALLY pay attention to the FACTS and trust your heart.

Hopefully your fears about the band not working for someone "your size" are easily put to rest in the face of success stories found on this site alone.

Bypass is, without a doubt (in my mind anyway), a "bigger" surgery. It changes your anatomy in a permanant way. I don't think that anyone who's done that would ever want to think and/or admit "I should have had lapband instead". But if you go there, ask them about it, and they say "Yes, you should have lapband", that's pretty much what they're having to do.

My doctor does both procedures, and raves about the lapband. He says that the bypass is a wonderfull procedure for anyone who can't have lapband, or can't stand the thought of having a "foreign body" (the band) inside of them.

I don't know what your insurance/doctor situation is, but if you can find a surgeon that does both and seek HIS advice, you'll be better off than asking us, or obesityhelp which procedure you should have. I just think we're all too close to the situation and too biased. =) That DOESN'T, of course, mean that you shouldn't ask question after question to both groups until you feel like you have a good understanding of both options.

Don't lose yourself in the decision making process. The important thing is that you're making a decision. Bypass or Lapband, you'll change your life in the best physical way you can.

Jonathan

Trish -

There is NO guarantee that you won't have saggy skin just because you lost weight slower - so you might as well take that off your list of "Pros" for the band. However, losing weight slower is safer, since it's less hard on your body and you are less likely to lose muscle - remember, the most important muscle in your body is your heart.

My sis had the RnY, and has regained almost all of her weight. The RnY has a "window of opportunity" where the missing part of the intestine gives the most malabsorption of calories. However, once a person hits about the 2 year mark, the intestine compensates and begins absorbing more calories again - unfortunately, the top part of the intestine (which is what is cut away) is responsible for absorbing certain Vitamins, and the intenstine NEVER learns to compensate for that loss. So, you are permanently Vitamin deficient, but you are NOT permanently calorie deficient.

IF you do NOT permanently change your lifestyle, you WILL regain your weight with the RnY. Those first two years are "freebies", where pretty much no matter WHAT you do or eat, the weight just melts off. AFTER that - if you continue to eat the "old" way, the weight will come back on just like it did before.

With the band there is NO window of opportunity - it is continually effective as long as you maintain your restriction. It IS true, though, that many people who have been banded a long time can no longer handle the same amount of restriction without suffering severe reflux, so the band cannot be made as tight as many would like to receive maximum help - so for them it does become harder than before to maintain, but they STILL receive help from the band.

No WLS is perfect - but the lapband is definitely, without a doubt, the very safest WLS available today. And while it's true that many people may not lose down to their goal weight (although many DO), the 3 year out statistics comparing weightloss between the lapband/RnY show them equal.

Lots of people have children after the bypass - but never forget that you will be PERMANENTLY vitamin deficient, so you would have to be extra diligent about supplements during your pregnancy to safeguard your child.

Extraordinary bandsters is at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ExtraordinaryBandsters/

Good luck with your decision!

And just a comment on Jonathan's advice about asking a doc who does both - beware, there are many docs out there who are biased one way or the other as well. Most of those WLS surgeons started out doing the RnY, and are slow to accept that the lapband is an equally good (if not better) alternative. Plus, the RnY is a much more pricey surgery, so they earn more doing it... That may sway some of their opinions, as well...

I also researched both and sometimes wonder when I am really struggling if I made the right decision. And the truth is I did! Everyone's circimstances are different, but my biggest worry was about having children. THe one thing research showed me is that you can have children after RNY, but the research shows there are more complications in the births and a lower birth weight has been shown with women who have had it. There is no chance of that with the lap band since you can have it loosened to eat whatever you want. The good thing about that is you can tighten it up right afterwards and lose the baby weight again!! You will have to put more time and energy into the lap-band because it is not a fix it is a tool to work with your hunger. But since I know it is there and everyone else knows it is there it keeps me motivated longer than I ever had to change my lifestyle and keep it changed for good. You nned to do more of your own research and meet with doctors who do both surgeries so they won't be biased! You will be making a good decision either way, so just keep up the research.

Kim

The RnY is not a FIX, either... It is also just a tool, which loses a lot of its effectiveness after two years...

The article that I posted from the Family Circle magazine was just a part of the article about the lapband. The whole article was regarding weight loss surgeries..what they do and the complications that could happen. PM me if you would like for me to send you the whole article..it is lengthy, but I don't mind at all..

Hi Trish,

Gosh, I don't know how to respond. I don't want to call your feelings silly or anything but honestly I weighed even more than you when I got my band and haven't regretted it for anything. I would have NEVER considered the by-pass of any kind. I am 30 and still want to have kids myself. I also get on obesityhelp.com but ussually stick to the Oregon group and nobody has ever said anything negative about the band on that group. I think a pregnancy with the band would be much safer than the bypass anyway. By-pass people have massive Vitamin deficiency's, they have large parts of their hacked off organs stuck inside them, etc. I have a local banded friend who is 7 months pregnant and she is doing wonderfully. Hasn't gained a pound at all. I am sorry you are having regrets. One thing to consider is the by-pass people only have a certain window of opportunity to lose weight. Once that is past, if they haven't lost all their weight they probably never will. I have also know many by-pass people who have gained all their weight back. The band has an infinite window of opportunity and hopefully will always be there to help us. You don't think we all get frustrated sometimes? I had a plateau from thanksgiving to new years... I was totally frustrated and bummed when I went to all the trouble to go weigh in every week and see the same damn numbers. I just tried to not let the plateau overwelm me. We go thru those naturally anyway but I also wanted to eat some of the holiday treats. I felt blessed I had stayed the same in the end. Anyway, I definitely feel for you and hope you can change your mindset. The band does work. Best wishes, Teresa

When I saw my band aftercare doctor the other day I was asking him what his percentage of patients were that got the band versus the bypasses (which he does also). He said it was about 30-40% bandings and the rest bypass. He said he wished that number would increase because he really does like the results from the band better. I thought that was very uplifting coming from a doctor who has done bypasses for many many years and has only done the band for a few, to like the band procedure and outcome more. I thought I would throw that in there. T

Thank you all for being such a big help to me you all are great!! I'm sticking to the Lapband, plus I'm so close to getting it. Its almost around the corner.

Just a few comments to some of you:

Becky~ I didn't go to the Lapband forum. Since I have signed up I have been to my Local forum and to a chat room thing... That's were I was last night. I'm sure now I want the Lapband.

Michelle~ Thanks for that site I saved it so that I can sit back and read it all with no disturbances.

Leatha G~ Yeah I joined the Extraordinary Bandsters. They all have done wonderful with their bands. Yeah I think I was in the wrong area on ObesityHelp. I think I need to look around more on that site.. its so big and so much info I don't know were to go. Thanks though, and no I don't want to have those problems you mentioned, seems scary.

Jonathan~ I'm still waiting on approval, but Dr. says probably by April I will have a date.. They gave me March 14th but that was a little to soon. As far as my Dr. He use to do Bypass surgery, and now will only do the Lapband. He says it the best thing out there and I agree (now).

hagerteresa~ Thank You... and yeah my feeling were silly.. I was talking to the wrong people last night.. I really didn't need that. I guess I let me get to me sometimes. You are doing wonderful, I hope I will do as good as you.. Thanks again!

Thank You everyone.. see I need this pep talk! You all are wonderful!!! I cant wait to be in Bandland with you all.

Hey Trish,

I'm glad your feeling better about everything this morning. Actually it wasn't until after I posted my reply that I realized you weren't even banded yet. Even when I was doing my research though, I wouldn't even consider the by-passes. I have heard of too many deaths and miserable experiences (though I have also heard many postive ones too). I was sure the band would not work for me and even with that initial feeling I was determined to have it done. My family are the people who were certain it would help me. After I was banded, the 300's just flew by. I had lost 68 lbs at the time of my first fill 6 months out. That is not always typical results but hopefully it all goes fast and smoothly for you too. I find it has definitely slowed now but I am still very happy with my results. The band doctor had said I lost 15 lbs since my first fill and my fill this last week which was about 2 months. He said that was absolutely perfect and right at the norm. Best wishes to you, Teresa